Industries Minister K T Rama Rao at the inauguration of MEIC in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad, which has emerged as the key life sciences cluster in the country is now emerging as the hotspot for MedTech innovation, driving the growth of medical devices sector, said Telangana Industries minister KT Rama Rao.
“We at Government of Telangana have taken a holistic approach to the MedTech sector with a strategy focused to innovate, scale up and manufacture. In order to boost innovation, we have taken various initiatives such as establishing incubation centres focused on medical technologies, handholding support, technology partnerships, access to testing and regulatory facilities etc. As a result, Hyderabad today is emerging as the hotspot for MedTech innovation benefiting from the progressive government policies, abundant talent pool and extraordinary infrastructure etc,” he added.
In the life sciences sector alone, Hyderabad today is serving more than 1,000 global innovators in their vision to improve healthcare and research and development around the globe.
“We have seen increased interest from companies and investors benefiting from the production linked incentives provided by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. As design and development of high value medical devices will serve as a crucial value contributor to make India a leader in this space and eventually accelerate manufacturing also in this sector, I request the government to consider the incentives and continued support to the companies which will engage in development of medical devices in our country,” KTR noted.
The minister further noted that innovation, research and development will hold the key in accelerating growth in this sector. There is a need to adopt an ‘India for the world’ approach. As the size of the domestic market is relatively small, the local market needs to be made attractive and viable through improved insurance and reimbursement and consistency in policies.
Growing marquee list
“Medtronic’s footprint in Hyderabad serves us a testimony to the city’s R&D prowess. We are fully committed to positioning India and Hyderabad on a global map as a leader in the medical device development and manufacturing. We are on the path to realise our dream and vision of growing the life sciences industry to over $100 billion by 2030. And I believe the med devices sector will play an extremely important role in this aspect. Medtronic’s facility will boost Telangana’s MedTech plans and cement Hyderabad’s position as the med devices hub in India.
I am confident that the Medtronic team will grow from Hyderabad not only from an R & D perspective but also possibly establish a large manufacturing base in Telangana in future,” KTR said.
Medtronic has already made strides through its operations in Hyderabad in the last 10 years with over 150 patents and 400 plus IP disclosures globally. “I am confident that the MEIC will continue to contribute to the global aspirations of Medtronic as well as global health in general by contributing to intellectual property significantly,” added KTR.
Hyderabad is destination of choice for American companies: US Consul
Telangana has played an important role in the growth of India’s healthcare sector, especially during the pandemic. It is worth noting that one-third of the global vaccines are produced right here in Hyderabad and the city has become an attractive destination for American companies, said Joel Reifman, US consul general, Hyderabad.
Addressing virtually at the inauguration of Medtronic’s R&D facility in Hyderabad on Wednesday, Reifman said, the company joins many American companies who have chosen Hyderabad to set up their largest facilities outside the US, which include companies such as Amazon and Google.
US through its development finance corporations has committed to support Hyderabad-based Biological E to help increase capacities and produce 8 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine worldwide by the end of 2022.
India and the US have a long-term relationship in the healthcare sector, with the US being the largest supplier of medical devices to India, while India supplies half of America’s generic drugs, he added.